I thought about her comment for some time wondering what she meant. No doubt, in the light of the things that were happening, the future would reveal the truth!
Chapter Seven
It was late in the evening when we arrived at Ben Gurion Airport. Penny decided to circulate while I bought the airline tickets. It was a busy night and I had to stand in a queue of people with the same purpose in mind. When it was my turn, I had to provide details which the computer operator started to commit to the computer. However, as soon as I mentioned my full name, she pressed a button on her desk and raised her left arm in the air. Within seconds, two security officers rushed to the scene. Before I knew what was happening, they took me by my arms and whisked me away down a corridor.
‘What’s going on?’ I demanded angrily as they ushered me firmly towards an office.
‘You’d do well to keep a still tongue until we’re alone,’ advised one of the security men. ‘Don’t be concerned. You won’t be harmed.’
They guided me to a small room which smelled strongly of stale cigar smoke and one of them motioned me towards a chair.
‘Please sit down,’ invited the younger of the two officers pleasantly. ‘I’m sorry we have to go through the charade out there but it was advisable to remove you quickly from the main area. But firstly, tell me the name of the Commander whom you saw recently.’
‘Do you mean Commander Yasood?’ I asked somewhat bewildered.
‘And where did he meet you?’ He lit a cigarette with an elegant lighter and puffed smoke towards the ceiling.
‘In the Gaza Strip,’ I related become angry. ‘Look… what’s this all about? Why did you have to pull me out of the main area?’
‘We knew unofficially of your mission,’ explained the older man taking off his jacket so that I could witness the gun in its holster around his waist. ‘It’s essential that you recognised its importance as well.’
‘What does that mean?’
He adjusted the holster slightly to make it more comfortable. ‘Our information tells us you’re a reluctant bride unwilling to go to the altar. Is that how you see it too?’
‘If you’d been through what I’ve been through over the last few days you’d also have second thoughts of any further development,’ I replied. ‘The whole thing’s been handled very badly. I’ve almost been killed four times as well as spending a night in a lousy jail in Crete. If that’s how you recruit people to your organisation, forget it!’
The younger security officer blew smoke towards the ceiling once more. ‘Organisation?’ he muttered. ‘We don’t have an organisation. We know of your mission, that’s all. However we’re always interested in adding a new weapon to our armoury… especially if it’s a superior one.’
‘Where’s my secretary… Penny Smith?’
‘She’s fine,’ replied the elder officer. ‘You don’t need to worry about her.’
‘Tell me,’ I went on regardless, ‘am I being arrested?’
The younger man laughed and drew on his cigarette again. ‘Arrested! What for? You’re a VIP, didn’t you know that? In fact we’ve even paid your fare back to England for you. Let’s just say it’s a payment on account.’ He reached into his inside pocket and produced an envelope which he handed to me.
‘On account that you’re going to get the plans of a certain weapon,’ the elder man commented. ‘Look you’ve met a few people here and learned a little about the future of the world. We’d like to make sure you keep everything confidential. There’s a lot at stake. We don’t want some fink shouting his head off to the newspapers. If someone did that he’d have to be silenced. You understand?’ He ran the index finger of his right hand across his throat in a menacing fashion to indicate what might happen if I stepped out of line. ‘On the other hand, we know how to treat our friends.’
‘Well I’m glad I’m not one of your enemies,’ I told him, opening the envelope. It contained a single airline ticket on an El Al flight to London. ‘Hey… there’s only one ticket here!’
‘That’s right,’ declared the elder officer. ‘You’re only one person, aren’t you? Okay… we’ll take you back to the plane but don’t forget what you have to do. Get those plans for us. We will certainly be grateful.’
He motioned me to get to my feet and led me down the corridor to the exit lounge and out onto the tarmac. It was the first time I had ever been escorted to an aeroplane. It made me feel as though I was being deported. Within a few minutes, I found myself aboard the aircraft sitting in the seat next to Penny.
‘I was worried about you.’ I told her breathing a sigh of relief. ‘They gave me only one ticket’
‘They gave me only one ticket too,’ she related with a very lovely smile.
‘I also received a warning to keep my mouth shut about all that’s happened. I presume they said the same thing to you. They’re also after the plans of the new laser gun. The first thing I’m going to do is to find Jan and try to rescue her. But what are our plans after that?’
‘Over the past four years I’ve collected quite a lot of material about the weaponry division of Dandy Advanced Electronics. It’s all stored in a cupboard in my apartment. I suggest we go there and take a good look at it before deciding the next step.’
I stared at her with a certain amount of dismay. ‘You know, if it wasn’t for Jan’s abduction, I would let the whole thing drop.
This is not really my game. I know nothing about the 21st Century Crusaders… let alone risk my life for them.’
‘They want the plans… nothing more,’ stated Penny bluntly. ‘If you get them, the matter will end there as far as you’re concerned.’
‘And if I can’t get them?’
‘We could have another world war. One more horrifying than all the wars in the past put together. And you any never see Jan again. I don’t think you want either of those things on your conscience, do you?’
Suddenly, the whole future of the world seemed to rest on me successfully gaining the plans of the prototype laser gun developed by the company for whom I worked. How did I become so responsible in such a short time. I fell silent for a while, fighting the battle in my mind. Should I continue to risk life and limb or would it be more expedient not to help anyone? Was it worth risking my appointment at Dandy Advanced Electronics by becoming an industrial spy trying to steal the plans owned by them, or would it be more sensible to resign from the company and disappear deep into the countryside away from it all? What I really wanted is for no one to take any further interest in me but then what would happen to Jan? Penny was right. It would remain for ever on my conscience!
As soon as we landed Penny headed for a telephone booth. ‘I have to make a call to my mother, she told me. ‘She never stops worrying about me.’
I nodded and waited at the exit waiting for her to complete the call. As soon as she rejoined me, we made our way to her apartment. As we entered I had a strange sensation that someone had been there in the past few days. The staleness that exists when a place is left unoccupied for a while was absent. I helped myself to a drink and sat down on the settee while Penny brought a large cardboard box into the lounge from her bedroom, leaving the door open behind her.
‘Much of the information is general,’ she began, lifting the lid to show that it was almost filled with papers, ‘but together it offers a reasonable account of what goes on in the weaponry division and its operations.’ She lifted out a whole sheaf of papers and started to sort them into separate piles on the carpet.
‘You’ll be disappointed when I tell you that I know nothing about lasers,’ I admitted. ‘As you know, my field is commercial computers. For the rest of the time I concentrate on bridge. I focus my mind only on the things in which I’m successful. Everything else gets blotted out.’